“Fire wood hah?â€

Of course... nothing is ever so simple. There is little room to hide and there is no way to tell how many are approaching. Someone has to let the others know, but if one of us runs for it they will surely chase him down before he could get to help. I'm going to regret this.

Ende whispers "Alright elfling this is the plan. We will hide with whatever little cover we can find. Once they are more visible run back and tell the others. Our pursuers will surely follow after you. This is when I leave my hiding spot and attack them. I'll attempt to hold them back until help arrives. Whatever you do, don't look back. You won't like what you see."

By this time around the young elf's sensibilities could scarcely be disturbed by hostile shadows unexpectedly looming up before him with intent to kill. It was only to be expected that there would be no refuge from Evil that could possibly hope to last in this journey. ... But the human at his side was probably right; William probably would not want to look back behind him as he ran, else his heart would be shaken in a way that even the deaths of two different men at his once-innocent hands in the fight the night before could not accomplish.

The elf began to inch away, looking the entire time at Ende with nervous eyes, all the while cursing in his heart that the manner of his actions and facial expression was making it entirely clear to whatever lay in the darkened corners of the chamber that their odious presence had become known to the two.

The shadows begin to move from the back of the cave, drawing up in height as the cave ceiling grows higher. As they reach the fire pit its clear that there are three beings, all rather slim in nature, with elegantly tall heights, dressed in black with inkish skin.

As they pass the fire pit one of then holds out a hand to the other two, and whispers words in a strange tongue. All three of the draw short spatha like blades and daggers. It seems they have noticed your presence.

@Ende - Their ears are pointed.


@Lausen - Above you, there is a clattering and screeching sound. It grows until it feels as though it's almost on top of you. It seems like somethings coming.

As Kayn dashes for the William and Ende, something in his mind gets a sharp ping. Something much larger than what's ahead of those two was nearly on top of Lausen.

"It's time to pay back the debt I owe him" Kayn speaks to himself. Kayn quickly turns on his heels and dashes towards Lausen's direction. Hopefully Lifth would go and even the numbers deeper in the cave with William and Ende...

Still quite shadowed, Kayn couldn't quite make out what was just over Lausen, but Kayn had a really good idea of just what it was. Without waiting, he dashes as quickly towards Lausen as possible and jump over him. While in mid-air, just over Lausen, Kayn focuses his though and summons as much of his magic as possible. With hard consentration and timing he shouts, "Fire Clone" directly over Lausen's head, using it as a shield aginst what is decending.

When Kayn lands, he slides on his feet, turns around and whields his weapon in one fluent move.

Its them... those filthy bastards. Could they be after me? Trying to finish the job they couldn't get done before? Maybe they have something to do with my current state. I'll tear them apart with my own hands! They will suffer like I have... No, I must remain calm and stick to the plan. But what if they were sent by that elfling? I may have granted my own death sentence. Regardless, I should wait for them to get in range then I'll charge up my magic missile at full power and blast it all at once. Not the best idea, for it could harm myself at this level, but my options are limited. They will suffer.

“Wait for it, wait for itâ€

@ Ende - As the three dark elves rush you, William appears to freeze in fear. A moment later the cavern is filled with a bright flash of light and Lifth appears next to you.

She glances at William and grimaces, "Let's finish this fast Aesir, I don't think we have help coming from outside."

The Dark Elves attack one rushing towards Ende, one towards Lifth, and one towards William.




@ Lausen and Kayn - As the two of you ready yourselves a huge monster drops from above landing directly on top of Kayns's fire clone. The beast shrieks as it lands, flames still licking at its underbelly.

Unfortunately, the monster is a giant spider and it's underbelly it hard exoskeleton and not fur, so the fire does little besides surprise and annoy it. To make matters worse the spider appears to be ridden by a dark elf wielding a rather long looking lance.

The spider turns to Lausen and shoots a ravel of webbing out at him. Looks like things are about to get sticky.

Giant Spider HP : 34/40

Dark Elf HP: Unknown.

... Elves.

... Or rather, creatures that may have once been called elves but had forsaken the elven spirit of nobility and self-sacrifice - principles William had struggled his entire life so far to embrace - to become something else. They were generally called "dark elves", but in William's eyes to brand them with title that still included the term "elf" anywhere wihtin it was to give them a title that was much too flattering. And their coolly malicious and emotionless faces, not to mention the imposing spirit of malevolence that radiated heavily from the three shadowy figures as they advanced menacingly upon the little elf and the bigger-statured and much more spirited human warrior who was with him, were something else altogether different from Kayn's.

The forest elf's entire body had frozen in utter fear. Indeed, perhaps even his heart itself had stopped completely in those several moments. All his mind or heart knew at that time was the one monster who was coming out of the shadows and straight for one perfectly helpless pointy-eared target, ... and yet William could scarcely even raise his sword up to defend himself. This was an evil the young swordsman had never truly imagined that he would ever face in his entire life, and he could not find it in himself to even try to fight it. The dark elf who was coming for William was about to crush him flat, and the forest elf would probably go without so much as a whimper.

... If I cannot bid my hands to lift this sword now, then this journey is over. Probably every last one of us will die, if I do nothing to help fight!

.... Or, could he?

At this point, I was too far away to acknowledge Lifth. All rational thought has long since flew out the window. The only thing in my mind was taking down these beasts, even if I had to lose a peice of me. The elves approached ever so near and the time has come to make my move. I raise my hand out to prepare my attack. The energy surged into the palm of my hand, almost uncontrollably. Soon the pain became unbearable... not only did I feel the life being pulled out of me, but my own arm began to tear an increadible rate. Didn't matter. Not like there was much that woman and that useless elfling could do. It was up to me to finish this! Eventually, the energy became a bright red color, blending in with the amount of blood being lost. A smirk come across my face as I mutter a few choice words.

"You want me? Well, here is all of me!"

I blast everything I have. Just as the attack is unleashed, I collapse onto the ground grasping my arm. Maybe I over did it.

Lausen stares at the flames and tries to make out the creature, but catches the glare of the fire. Out of the shadows he sees something white flying at him. He lifts his blade in front of his body in hopes of deflecting this object, but to no avail. The webbing wrapped around his blade and his right arm. Before noticing what hit him, Lausen began to walk toward the beast. He tried to lift his arm in preparation to strike, but found himself restricted. He looked down to see what was wrong. The second his eyes passed the webbing his face changed. He looked as though he saw the reaper coming to claim his soul. Trembling in fear he started backing away. “No, please no! Anything but a spider. I’d rather fight a million demons then a spider.â€

Kayn quickly glances over his shoulder and nods.

Looking back at his opponent it looks as though the enemy was pretty content with persuing Lausen. But that wasn't enought to make Kayn think that their guard was left open at all. As such, a frontal attack wasn't going to be of much use. Realizing that Kayn glances at his surroundings.

Luckly, they weren't too deep into the cave... so Kayn was alright for the time being. Though if the fight were pulled farther in, Kayn's claustrophobia may begin to affacting his ability to fight.

Instead of dashing straight towards the foe, Kayn leaps upward towards the roof of the cave. His feet plant on a stalagmite a good deal above the enemy. Kayn, in the breif moment he was up there, he closed his eyes and gave his trust in his ability to sense the dark elf's ability then tensed up the muscles in his legs and push as hard as he could.

Just before the dark elf reaches William, Ende's charged missiles streak towards an adjacent dark elf. The elf attempts to block the incoming magic with his blade, and partially succeeds in deflecting the blast. Unfortunately for the dark elves, the blast explodes on the ground before them, launching them upwards into the low hanging ceiling.

The cavern begins to shake, and stalactites crumble and fall, showering the dark elves in rumble.

----------

The giant spider, spurred on by its rider skitters towards Lausen, who is fighting to free himself of the webbing. As the inner cave begins to rumble the spiders balance is slightly thrown off. Its rider halts its advance and closes his eyes briefly. As Kayn lunges forward, the dark elf swivels on the back of the spider swinging his lance at Kayn!

----------

As the dust begins to clear in the inner cavern, Ende, William, and Lifth are faced with only two Dark elves, both of which are battered and breathing heavily. However, though they might be wounded it appears they will be putting up a fight, as one as they both start chanting ones skin begins to glow with a pale aura, while the other's blades begins to streak fire.

---------

Dark Elf 1: Hp 14/18

Dark Elf 2: Hp 14/18

Dark Rider: Hp Unkown

Giant Spider: Hp 34/40

As kayn pressed off of the stalagmite, he felt the tremors of what shook the cave. Looking down, he saw that his enemy was a bit taken by the rumbles of the cavern walls. Luckly, Kayn was using his sixth sense and was able to see that his foe would still try to manage an attack.

Shifting his weight he dodges the attack. But his target wasn't the rider... but the leather straps that held the rider to the spider. Kayn slices with his weapon as cleanly as possibly and uses the riders shoulder to kick back off and away from them, hoping the force would be enough to send the rider off of his mount.

The immense pain from my arm was almost crippling. I forced my head to face the directions of my foes. Just my luck... two are still alive. Even all of the power left in my body couldn't seal the deal. Being so weak is infuriating. But I will not give in. As I force my body up with the help of my spear, I manage to squeeze out a few words towards William.

"Elfling... I'll be your eyes... *cough* if you are my arms..."

I toss my spear to William and immediately fall to one knee. There is no way I'm capable of fighting in this condition. However, I have a plan. If I have any reserves left I might be able to at least push hat elfling along with my domination power. Won't be able to do much, but I can at least increase his abilities in short bursts. Hope it will help. Funny, how I'm relying on an elf. What irony.

William had managed to at last break free of his trance through sheer force of will (I guess, perhaps hence my name, he had thought. Not so much the ability to protect and defend, ... but because of my strength of will ....), and at the last moment could move his arm fast enough to lash out at his attacker with his sword. The shadow of the dark elf that had been closing in on him appeared to be far quicker than the forest elf on the draw, however, and William found himself slashing at nothing but air. He immediately cringed, thinking that an enemy so fast would easily take advantage of this opportunity and be able to kill the forest elf flat with any number of no doubt cruel and brutal weapons in his possession.

Just then, several things began happening in succession so fast around William that the elf could scarcely do anything further to participate in the fight without it proceeding on around his still and madly trembling body. Some powerful magic from Ende's hand, the dark elf who had been set upon William careening helplessly out of sight, a terrible burst, some screaming that seemed to come from all directions and from unknown sources to the forest elf, and a quake that sent several stalactites crashing down all around them. When the dust and the racket cleared, William coughed a few times, shutting his bright young eyes and waving his right arm around in front of him a few times to clear away the contaminants in the air, then looked up to find that two of the three dark elves were still in the cavernous room with himself and the human, Ende. William did not dare risk a glance backward for even a second to see what was happening to Lifth and the others in the distance at this point, although he fretted a bit at the terrible distant sounds of what was surely his other three companions fighting a battle of their own, else these remaining two shadowy fiends would surely have the little elf's throat slit and his body thrown lifelessly away before William would even comprehend the cold touch of steel to his neck.

Something came flying at him from his right side. The elf quickly caught the object with one hand and glanced at it as he held it protectively in the direction of the dark elves - who now appeared to be on the verge of summoning magic to their fingertips and weapons - startled to find that it was Ende's spear. "Little elf, let's see if you can act as my arm while I attempt to act as your sight, hmm?" Ende, on his knees and seemingly out of stamina, managed to breathe out.

William did not like the sound of this one bit. Someone like Ende had an ironic way of speaking words of omen, and unless he was foregoing his usual mood for the sake of concentrating on the enemy in fighting this time, this had to mean that the forest elf was about to become the next victim of Ende's heinous and creepy puppet spell; ... the same one that William had had the misfortune to witness being used on the enemies they had fought just the night before. The elf thought in the next split second, however, that even Ende could not be doing this just for what might be his normally cruel sense of amusement, considering the two imminent and now very angered and bloodthirsty opponents they had coming upon them. I guess, ... if it will somehow help us two survive this one, William took a deep breath. He glanced sidelong one last time at Ende.

"... I'm ready."

Lausen, slowly slipping into a panic as he helplessly watches the spider advance. His focus is trying to remove the web binding his arm. Lausen looks up to see the beasts eyes locked on him. “ Agh… Is this the end? Am I really going to die here?â€

@ Ende and William - As Ende's dominate begins to effect William, William's body starts to make jerky sudden movements. William can feel Ende in his mind, and because of the shared control over his body, the dominate spell is actually feeding back into Ende as well! William is able to sense Ende's intentions and react instantly to Ende's observations. With an extra pare of eyes William should be able to take on these foes.

-------------

William is afflicted with dominate. Ende may post observations and suggestions, but due to the shared control he may not control the actual movements of William. While Dominated William Gains 2 AP and 2 DF. Because of the feedback William's senses are also more aware, increasing his agi by 4.

-------------

The dark elves sense the magic flowing and both rush forward, blades swinging at William. They hope to crush the two heroes before they can begin to work together.

Dark Elf 1: Hp 14/18

Dark Elf 2: Hp 14/18

Lifth has stepped back and to the side and is apparently intending on watching this fight unfold.


------------

@ Lausen - Just as you free yourself you see Kayn dismount the rider of the spider with a great kick. Unfortunately, that kick has sent the rider flying straight at you. You only have a SPLIT SECOND to decide what to do.

[SPLIT SECOND - Under this situation your character must decide what he will do instantly. Under these circumstances your characters next action may only be described in 10 or less words. This may be severely limiting, but smart decisions in SPLIT SECOND moments can be very rewarding.]


Dark Elf Rider: Hp 16/18

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@ Kayn - Your dismounting attempt was extremely succesful. Almost unfortunately so. The spider has felt the shift of its rider and swivels its bloated body towards you. It shoots 2 sticky ravels of webbing out towards you.

Giant Spider HP : 34/40

Kayn, with an apparent smirk on his face, was almost so pleased with the ease in which his plan was to execute that the shots fired were almost unexpected. But never fully letting his guard down, he knew that he was no where safe from harm. Keeping his weapon gripped tightly, Kayn attempts to quickstep both shots in an attempt to get around to the spiders side to open up a shot.

Speaking into Williams mind; "Alright elfling, listen carefully. While in this "Synchronized" state not only can I see through your eyes, but I can also see through my mine, as well. Allowing for me to cover any of your potential blind spots. Like now, I can give you orders this way so that the enemy can't anticipate your next... damn, those bastards aren't going to give us any time to breath. You aren't too keen with the spear so I suggest using it for defensive purposes. Wait for them to get close, guard, and retaliate with your sword. Be sure to not continue the same strategy over and over. The enemy isn't stupid. I'll watch for their attacks, the rest is left to you."